Review of the Day: Furious George Goes Bananas by Michael Rex

George is a happy gigantic ape, living his life in the jungle, when one day a man in a funny hat tricks him with a pile o’ bananas. Before George knows it he’s transported across the sea where the man immediately sells him to a zoo. Kept in a tiny cage away from his home, “GEORGE WAS FURIOUS! HE WENT BANANAS!” So the man in the funny hat sells George to a construction site. Things, as you might expect, go equally well. Then it’s a Broadway show. Then it’s outer space. Eventually George figures that if he’s going to get back home, he’s going to have to do it himself. And with some clever planning (and trickery involving the man in the funny hat’s money pile) George finds a way to get back where he really belongs.

The original Curious George has been accused of a lot of things, most prominently amongst them a jovial look at imperialism. George is kidnapped from Africa and taken forcibly across the sea on a boat to a new land. For a while there, that was quite the hot button issue. The thing about Furious George, however, is that it just really gets down to the basic issues about why George has every right in the world to become furious. It doesn’t even have to go after the worst slights done to the original George either (his vomiting up ocean water, his sniffing ether and conking out, etc.). As Rex (who, ironically, will be shelved right next to actual Curious George books in libraries due to his alphabetically correct last name) says on the book’s bookflap, he “always wondered why little George put up with so much nonsense.” Now we can wonder too.

The art is rather fascinating too. First off, there are the colors to consider. To avoid looking anything like the colors of Curious George this book goes in for a lot of purples and greens and oranges. There are also fun details to look at. For example, the man in the funny hat’s clothing grows more and more prosperous every time he hires George out to somebody new. The hat generally stays the same (except for the red jewel that appears in it after he’s wealthy) but the clothes go from jungle gear to a nice suit to spats to ermine. The book is also playing off of various Curious George themes (George in a zoo, George goes to space, etc.) but I am personally convinced that when George has to perform on a stage, his freak out owes more to King Kong than any H.A. Rey creation.

As for the story itself, it actually stands on its own just fine. I think any kid can sympathize with a creature taken out of its natural habitat that just wants to go home. I wouldn’t be surprised if animal rights activists make Furious George their go-to book in years to come. I also loved that there was a running gag in the story of the man in the funny hat calling George a monkey only to be corrected over and over about the fact (he never remembers) that George is an ape.

On shelves May 13th.

Source: Reviewed from ARC supplied by publisher.

Interviews: Michael Spradlin Blog